Reposted from NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT
SEPTEMBER 6, 2021
By Paul Homewood
h/t Ian Magness
Young Rachel seems surprised!!
The UK has turned to a coal-fired power station to help boost its energy supply after global gas and power prices hit new highs and wind farms produced very low levels of electricity.
National Grid ESO, which balances Britain’s electricity supply and demand, asked EDF to fire up two units at its West Burton A power station in Lincolnshire. They had previously been on standby.
The Government plans to phase-out coal-fired power by 2024 in an effort to slash carbon emissions. Most coal-fired power stations have closed, but some remain available to help meet demand – particularly in emergencies.
Wind power now generates about 20pc of UK electricity across the year but varies hugely day by day. On Monday morning, output fell to 474 megawatts compared to a record 14,286 megawatts on May 21, Bloomberg said.
At 11am on Monday morning, coal was providing 3.9pc of Britain’s power mix; 47pc from gas; 1.9pc from wind; and 11.4pc from solar panels.
It comes as gas, which produces more than 35pc of UK electricity across the year, trades at more than three times normal rates amid a global supply crunch.
Many countries have been replacing coal-fired power stations with gas-fired alternatives, which produce less carbon emissions, but the high price of gas is making coal more appealing again.
High carbon charges on coal in Europe have been one reason for the high gas price, pushing up demand for gas by making coal more expensive.
National Grid ESO warned in July that Britain needed to prepare for a squeeze on energy supplies this winter as two nuclear plants shut down and workers return to the office.
The Hunterston B and Dungeness B nuclear stations are both due to shut within months, taking away a stable energy source at a time when unpredictable wind and solar generation is an increasingly part of the country’s power mix.
Don’t worry! We’ll soon have all of that lovely hydrogen. What could possibly go wrong?
‘COAG’ [the Council of Australian Governments], Electricity Supply Board is calling for taxpayers’ funds to hide the cost of spikes in coal and gas-generated electricity [“26 Aug 2021 — Special payments will be needed to keep ageing coal-fired and gas power stations in business to avoid future spikes in electricity prices, .”] when what is actually required is the re-furbishment of Yallourn [1.48MW] and Liddell [1.7mw] which are both due to cease operation in 2028 and 2023 respectively. The government has already admitted that new’ projected base load power will be insufficient to make up the shortfall, in an environment where the authorities were issuing ‘insufficient power’ warnings at a rate of one warning every four days in 2020. AEMO says we require 19MW, while we are closing [1.5 + 1.7 =] 3.2MW, while China, India, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam have an increase of 300MW under construction or approaching construction. Truly, we are deliberately choosing to be a crippled, 3rd World economy, at the mercy of foreign rivals or enemies, while consequently we are disqualifying ourselves from the right to call on the USA’s military might to protect us. No electricity grid stability = no heavy engineering, no manufacturing, no defence production, no ‘sinews of war’, no right to our imperatively-required protective military alliance. It’s time for realists like Dutton, Hastie, Paterson, Molan, Canavan, McKenzie to take charge of Energy policy [including our precarious Liquid Fuel deficit – we are closing two of our four refineries!]
I assume you meant GW instead of MW throughout.
With our current “president” there won’t be a military to help you out regardless.
A write-up of the factors that have driven power prices sky high:
https://www.current-news.co.uk/news/the-perfect-shoulder-month-storm-power-prices-spike-to-record-highs
So, the summer maintenance season with plant offline is a significant contributor to prices?
Actually it isn’t, because they plan these maintenance periods for times when there is sufficient reserve to cover the plants that are taken off line.
Secondly, wind has to be taken off line for maintenance as well.
From the article: “the Hunterston B and Dungeness B nuclear stations are both due to shut within months,”
This will be a monumentally stupid move if they do it.
How stupid are these people!?
These plants are all beyond their originally projected lives. The monumentally stupid thing was not to get on and build replacements several years ago, using sensible technology choices that could have kept the cost down (Japanese or Korean technology – not the French EPR), especially through building several of the same type in succession.
Indeed. Over 350 cracks found in Hunterston B nuclear reactor graphite bricks at last inspection…
Look to griffie, they are greentarded same as it is.
Really, calling people who have a contrary opinion names is such a great tactic: shows you as dignified, mature and a mastery of scientific fact.
Griffiepoo: time and time again you have been shown to be peddling outright lies and misinformation. Not a good look.
Derision and ridicule is all you have earned, lie spewing liar, you and all other leftarded morons.
“Really, calling people who have a contrary opinion names”
Look in the mirror, Griff.
That’s funny, coming from a warmunist.
The bar has been set pretty high, but I think they are pretty damned stupid.
I’m assuming that when it all goes belly-up they will start blaming Global Warming for the blackouts.
No, but I will blame fossil fuel for the Texas blackout.
And yet another lie from the lie spewing liar.
I would blame the Texas blackout on stupidity. It didn’t have to happen, but stupid decisions made it happen.
Texas is at Peak Windmill, Griff. The only way to add more to their grid is to add additional conventional electric power generation.
Reality-based Texans would hope that Texas politicians don’t opt to pay for twice as much generating power as is necessary, in order to make up for the regular failure of windmills to produce to their capacity.
Windmills are not the answer.
On the other hand, you have been repeatedly corrected on this erroneous belief. But then again, facts never did matter to you.
But Joe Biden is going to have all electricity produced be “Zero Emissions by 2020”.
Coal and Britain, just can’t separate the two!
Sweden imports regular electricity from Denmark and Polen -Coal power!
Due to lack of nuclear in the south.
Power is sold across europe based on day ahead prices… take a look at the import/export balances for w and N european countries.
Yes, and that power comes from coal, gas, nuclear and hydro. You greentards should be locked out of the electric grid, go sit in the mud and starve, it is what you deserve.
Maybe the old winter ski jacket I recently donated will end up in the UK to help in the coming cold ahead. It didn’t have to come to this, but then nature can be cruel in cycles when humans think in straight lines.
NOAA SST-NorthAtlantic GlobalMonthlyTempSince1979 With37monthRunningAverage.gif (880×481) (climate4you.com)
But WIND and SOLAR!!! What happened?
The inevitable. Enough electricity is not reliably produced.
Cooling towers have substantial capital and maintainance costs while reducing electrical power that should go to the grid. Many studies conducted under Section 316 of the the Clean Water Act have shown no significant impacts from warm water discharge to the receiving waters.
Carbon dioxide is an essential plant nutrient and has no significant effect on climate.
I do wonder how the primeval forests of Europe ever grew with such low historical levels of CO2…
And once again, griff demonstrates that when it comes to logic, he’s a complete zero.
Saying that plants grow better when CO2 levels are above 280ppm, is not the same as saying plants can’t grow when CO2 levels are at or below 280ppm.
Low levels of CO2 are bad for plants, but the real suffering doesn’t start until CO2 levels get down around 150ppm.
There’s also the fact that he doesn’t define “primeval”. Here’s what MW says:
“of or relating to the earliest ages”
Based on that, CO2 levels have been FAR higher than now. His “argument” is completely devoid of fact or logic.
Guess they’ll never learn… but maybe until it’s too late.
The hot air generated by the griffians will keep the UK nice and toasty for a long time.
Uh-oh. The Climate Gremlin Greta will be there shortly to berate the UK for its egregious Climate Transgression. Use of inexpensive, reliable fuels is now a high crime against the Climate, against children, the poor, the downtrodden, the weak, and the lazy. How Dare They!
Not just Britain….
Chinese Coal Prices Hit Record Highs (yahoo.com)
Partly self inflicted through their spat with Australia of course. But even so, is comes out a whole bunch cheaper in terms of electricity – a back of envelope suggests around $65/MWh.
What Rachel is surprised at is that leftist plans, to beggar Western Civilizations through unreliable renewables so leftists can install autocratic despotic socialist governments while the middle class and poor freeze, are exposed.
Even The Times reported this story, in spite of the fact that they have totally swallowed the man-made global warming narrative.
Aha….the standard photo of a power plant…with all the smoke….horrors!!….oops you say that is H2O condensate? Just a cloud??
Really, editors just pic out stock photos of power plants. It isn’t a conspiracy.
“The record energy market surge has claimed its first casualties after two UK suppliers collapsed leaving almost 100,000 customers without an energy supplier.”…….
“In addition to shouldering the rising cost of energy, UK suppliers also face an annual deadline to hand over millions in renewable energy subsidies collected from bills to pay renewable energy developers.”
Two UK energy suppliers succumb to record surge in prices (msn.com)
That’s what you get with the cheap renewables you were promised. Just keep renewing your electricity provider until you find a solvent subsidised one.
Meanwhile in the poster child of climate changer Griffonomics they’re gushing over 100% solar-
South Australia to be first gigawatt scale grid to meet all demand with rooftop solar | RenewEconomy
Obviously it’s time to pull the plug on leasing those 9 diesel generators that can consume 80,000 litres an hour of refined fossil fuels now we’ve reached the Promised Land.
That’s what you get with a huge hike in natural gas prices… the more renewables, the less gas used
Actually the more they retire dispatchable coal the more gas has to insure the weather dependent unreliables. That drives up gas demand and gas prices as the insurer of last resort thereby setting overall power prices. You don’t like gas then compete with Elon et al for lithium battery resources and see what happens to their prices.
Keep listening to the boofhead climate changers Griff but the money quote is at the end-
“It’s imperative we find an economically viable way to keep fossil fuels buried in the ground,”
Almost All of The World’s Coal Is Now ‘Unextractable’, Scientists Warn (msn.com)
If that were true, you would have a point.
The problem is that you have to keep the fossil fuel plants on hot standby in order to take over on a moments notice for when the wind fails, or a cloud passes over the solar panel field. Keeping plants on hot standby uses almost as much fossil fuel as running them to generate electricity does.
CBN Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BVQpER8IyU
This is the red light for the half-witted ‘climate’ policies by HMG. In the end they will have to admit they are unworkable but in the meantime they will do incalculable damage.
Where’s Labour, supposedly the party of the workers? Where are the minor parties? They are parroting the CO2 is evil slogans when they should be suggesting realistic, safe ways of getting to Net Zero which don’t damage our industrial competitiveness.
Use UK fracked gas as a bridge fuel, develop and deploy a few SMRs as proof of concept and wait to see if there really is a crisis. If there is then the world will have lost nothing by the delay — the UK is too small to make a difference. If not, the UK will have avoided fuel poverty, collapse of infrastructure, deaths from hypothermia.
Too sensible?
JF